System and method for identifying an unidentified customer at the point of sale

ABSTRACT

A system ( 500 ) for identifying an unidentified customer ( 510 ) includes a database ( 42 ) that contains utterance data ( 162 ) corresponding to a known customer. A processing system ( 502 ) coupled to the database ( 42 ) receives utterance information corresponding to the unidentified customer ( 510 ) at the point of sale and compares the utterance information with the utterance data ( 162 ) to identify the unidentified customer ( 510 ) as the known customer. In response, the processing system ( 502 ) may automatically retrieve stored information ( 104, 132, 162 ) corresponding to the known customer.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No.08/672,677, filed Jun. 28, 1996, for a “System and Method forIdentifying an Unidentified caller” and U.S. application Ser. No.08/819,482, filed Mar. 17, 1997, for a “Computer-Based System and Methodfor Identifying an Unidentified Caller.”

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates in general to the field of telecommunications,and more particularly to a system and method for identifying anunidentified customer at the point of sale.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Many commercial and other establishments identify customers or otherpersons at the point of sale to allow an informed decision to be maderegarding whether to provide goods, services, or other benefits to thesecustomers or persons or to take some other appropriate action. Forexample, a commercial establishment might elect to allow a customer topurchase, rent, otherwise receive, or order a good, service, or benefiton credit or at a discount based on an identification of the customermade at the point of sale.

As identification and identity verification procedures become moreadvanced to serve various needs, commercial or other establishments mayidentify customers or other persons at the point of sale using a varietyof techniques. A known technique for identifying a customer includesreceiving a personal identification number (PIN), account number, orother identifier associated with the customer, either verbally or usinga magnetic card reader, and comparing the number or identifier withpreviously stored information to verify the identity of the customer.Such techniques are wholly inadequate if the customer loses his card orhas it stolen, cannot remember his number or identifier, or is otherwiseunable to provide the requisite information. Furthermore, suchtechniques are burdensome to both the customer and the establishment inthat the customer must remember the number or identifier, or carry withhim a card, and the establishment must devote employee resources to theidentity verification process. Moreover, although these techniques maybe acceptable in some circumstances to verify the identity of customersthat have already been identified, these techniques do not identify anunidentified customer out of a universe of known customers. These andother disadvantages and problems make previous techniques foridentifying customers inadequate for many applications.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention addresses disadvantages and problems associatedwith previous systems and methods for identifying customers.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, a system foridentifying an unidentified customer at the point of sale includes adatabase containing utterance data that corresponds to a known customer.A processing system coupled to the database receives utteranceinformation that corresponds to the unidentified customer and comparesthe utterance information with the utterance data to identify theunidentified customer as the known customer. In response, the processingsystem may automatically retrieve stored information corresponding tothe known customer.

The present invention provides a system and method for identifying anunidentified customer at the point of sale that does not merely verifythe identity of the customer, but identifies the unidentified customerfrom among a universe of known customers. The system and method of thepresent invention identifies the unidentified customer at the point ofsale without requiring the customer to remember a PIN, account number,or other identifier, or to physically provide a card containing thisinformation in magnetic form, and may be used in a variety of commercialand other settings. The present invention therefore improves theefficiency, increases the accuracy, and decreases the burden associatedwith the customer-identification process. Furthermore, the presentinvention may be self-learning, such that the likelihood of identifyinga particular unidentified customer may increase each time the customerinteracts with the system.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the present invention and forfurther features and advantages thereof, reference is now made to thefollowing description taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a system for identifying an unidentified caller;

FIG. 2 illustrates a system for identifying an unidentified caller in avoice messaging environment;

FIGS. 3a through 3 c illustrate relationships between accountidentifiers for known callers and identity data, order data, andutterance data, respectively, for the known callers;

FIGS. 4a and 4 b are a flow chart illustrating a method of identifyingan unidentified caller;

FIGS. 5a and 5 b are a flow chart illustrating a method for identifyingan unidentified caller in a voice messaging environment;

FIG. 6 illustrates a computer-based system for identifying anunidentified caller;

FIG. 7a through 7 d illustrate exemplary option screens;

FIGS. 8a and 8 b are a flow chart illustrating a method of identifyingan unidentified caller;

FIG. 9 illustrates a system for identifying an unidentified customer atthe point of sale; and

FIG. 10 is a flow chart illustrating a method for identifying anunidentified customer at the point of sale.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 illustrates a system 8 for identifying an unidentified callerthat includes a processing system 10, a network (N/W) 12, one or moreagents 36, and a database 42. Processing system 10 is coupled to andinteracts with network 12. Network 12 may be a public switched telephonenetwork (PSTN) or any other suitable network to receive incoming callsfrom one or more unidentified callers 14 and transmit the incoming callsto a telephone switching system (SWITCH) 20 using link 22. Network 12may include one or more local, exchange area, and/or long-haul networksto communicate information in analog, digital, or any other suitableform using any appropriate transmission facility. Link 22 may includeone or more subscriber lines or other appropriate wireline or wirelesslinks for connecting unidentified callers 14 to switching system 20using network 12. Although unidentified callers 14 are discussed in theplural, the present invention contemplates a single or multipleunidentified callers 14.

Switching system 20 may be a private branch exchange (PBX) system; acentral exchange (centrex) system; an automatic call distribution (ACD)system; a key telephone system; a telephone that is directly,indirectly, locally, remotely, or otherwise connected to network 12; orany other appropriate telephone switching system. Switching system 20may include a speech generation capability (SG) 24, a voice messaging(VM) capability 25, an automated attendant (AA) capability 26, and anyother suitable voice processing or call processing capabilities 28, inany suitable combination, whether directly integrated into switchingsystem 20 or as adjunct processors operating on one or more computers orother processing devices at one or more locations and appropriatelycoupled to switching system 20. Switching system 20 also includesanalog-to-digital (A/D) conversion and recording (REC) facilities 13 and15, respectively, which may include suitable hardware and software todigitize and record utterances provided by unidentified callers 14.While not shown, switching system 20 further includes one or more callprocessors for coordinating the operations of the various components ofswitching system 20 and one or more buses to allow the components tocommunicate information.

Switching system 20 is coupled to and interacts with system server 30using link 32. Link 32 may be any suitable connection through a localarea network (LAN), metropolitan area network (MAN), wide area network(WAN), a global computer network such as the Internet, or otherappropriate network; a standard data link and protocol connection usedto connect an external computer to a telephone switching system, such asa Telephony Services Application Programming Interface (TSAPI); aservice provider's proprietary interface; an integrated services digitalnetwork (ISDN) link; an internal bus; or any other appropriateconnection. The present invention contemplates system server 30 beingintegral to or separate from switching system 20.

System server 30 is a mainframe computer or other processing device thatmanages communications between switching system 20, agents 36, anddatabase server 34 using links 32, 31, and 33, as the case may be.System server 30 may also manage communications between datacommunications system 10 and a network or other resource external tonetwork 12, agents 36, and processing system 10. System server 30includes a memory 27 and a processor 29 that together operate to store,process, or manipulate data. Memory 27 may be any suitable memory, suchas dynamic or static random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM),magnetic media, optical media, CD-ROM, or other suitable volatile ornon-volatile storage media. Memory 27 may store information in files,directories, tables, or in any other suitable arrangement. Memory 27 maycontain instructions for processor 29 to execute in managing theoperations of system server 30. The present invention contemplatesmultiple system servers 30 operating in parallel to increase the speedor otherwise improve the performance of processing system 10 inidentifying one or more unidentified callers 14.

Agents 36 may be autonomous or operated by one or more employees,representatives, operators, or other persons, possibly associated withan organization, that may interact in some manner with unidentifiedcallers 14. Link 31 may be a connection through a LAN, MAN, WAN, aglobal computer network such as the Internet, or any other suitablecommunications connection. Agents 36 may be any logical entities inhardware and/or software, such as minicomputers or personal computers,that send and receive information using link 31 and system server 30. Inone embodiment, a particular agent 36 interacts with unidentified caller14 once unidentified caller 14 has been identified using processingsystem 10. Although agents 36 are discussed, the present inventioncontemplates more or fewer agents 36 depending on the organization andthe incoming call traffic generated by unidentified callers 14.

Database server 34 is coupled to and interacts with database 42 and anassociated database management system (DBMS) 43. In one embodiment,database 42 is a relational database that stores information in tablescontaining rows and columns of data. The rows of a table representrecords, which are collections of information about separate items, andthe columns represent fields, which are particular attributes of therecords. In conducting searches, database 42 matches information from afield in a first table with information in the corresponding field of asecond table to produce a third table that combines requested data fromthe first and second tables. In general, database 42 uses matchingvalues in two tables to relate information in one table to informationin the other table. Database 42 may store and retrieve data in anysuitable manner, and may include one or more databases, files, or otherdata repositories at a single or multiple locations internal to orexternal to data communications system 10. Database 42 may be more orless permanent or may be a temporary database, file, or other datarepository created by extracting information from more permanentdatabases, files, or other data repositories for use in identifyingunidentified callers 14.

Database 42 contains one or more records 44 that each represent theassociation of an account or other identifier corresponding to a callerwhose identity is known to the organization with account data, orderdata, identity data, utterance data, or other suitable informationconcerning the known caller. In one embodiment, the utterance data foreach known caller includes one or more utterance identifiers that aredigitized representations of one or more spoken utterances of theparticular known caller, which may include any suitable sound, word, orphrase. The utterances provided by the known callers are digitized andrecorded using the facilities 13 and 15, respectively, associated withswitching system 20. The present invention contemplates multipleutterance identifiers for each known caller, whether stored in a singleor multiple records 44 and in a single or multiple tables withindatabase 42. The association of account identifiers with identity data,order data, and utterance data for each known caller in records 44 isdiscussed more fully below in connection with FIGS. 3a through 3 c.

Database server 34 may be a mainframe computer, a minicomputer,microprocessor having memory, or personal computer connected to a LAN,or any other processing device that manages communications betweensystem server 30 and database 42. Although database server 34 is shownas separate from system server 30, database server 34 may be integral toor separate from system server 30. Database server 34 supports a DBMS 43that permits centralized control of security and data integrityrequirements for database 42.

In general, DBMS 43 is a layer of software between database 42 anddatabase server 34 that manages access by data communications system 10to the resources of database 42. Where database 42 is a relationaldatabase, the DBMS 43 supported by database server 34 may be arelational DBMS (RDBMS). DBMS 43 and database 42 may execute queries,conduct searches, or perform other activities in response to direct orindirect communications from database server 34 in any suitable form. Inone embodiment, database server 34 may provide a key or other suitableidentifier to DBMS 43 for DBMS 43 to use in finding, identifying, orotherwise locating one or more records or groups of records withindatabase 42 according to one or more key tables, index files, or othersuitable arrangement.

Database server 34 includes a memory 35 and a processor 37 that togetheroperate to store, process, or manipulate data. Memory 35 may be anysuitable memory, such as dynamic or static random access memory (RAM),read only memory (ROM), magnetic media, optical media, CD-ROM, or othersuitable volatile or non-volatile storage media. Memory 35 may storeinformation in files, directories, tables, or in any other suitablearrangement. Memory 35 may contain instructions for processor 37 toexecute in managing the operations of database server 34 and the DBMS 43supported by database server 34.

Database server 34 accesses one or more match parameters 46 to determinewhether a digitized utterance for an unidentified caller 14 issufficiently correlated with an utterance identifier corresponding to aparticular known caller to identify the unidentified caller 14 as theknown caller. Match parameters 46 may include, without limitation: anerror or discrimination threshold suitable for comparison with an errorvalue derived, calculated, or otherwise determined according to thecomparison of the digitized utterance with the utterance identifier, forexample, in the manner disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,053,710, which isincorporated by reference herein; a merit parameter for associating afigure of merit, determined according to some suitable scale and in somesuitable manner, with the identification of an unidentified caller 14 asa particular known caller; or any other information suitable fordetermining the sufficiency of the correlation, if any, betweenutterances for unidentified callers 14 and utterance identifiers forknown callers in database 42. Database server 34 may communicate one ormore match parameters 46 to DBMS 43 in association with a key or othersuitable identifier to facilitate the location and retrieval of one ormore utterance identifiers or other information from database 42.

Database server 34 communicates with database 42 using interface 41.Interface 41 may be any mechanism suitable to allow database server 34and database 42 to communicate with one another. For example, interface41 may include the appropriate hardware and software to communicateusing a direct connection to a PSTN, a direct connection using a bus orwireline link, a connection through a LAN, MAN, WAN, a global networksuch as the Internet, or other network, or any other communicationsconnection suitable to access one or more databases or files at one ormore locations. Interface 41 may include protocol conversion and somedata processing capabilities suitable to allow interface 41 tofacilitate data communications between database server 34 and database42.

Database server 34 and interface 41 may access one or more communicationparameters 48 to communicate with database 42. Communications parameters48 maintain access information for each database, file, directory, orother data repository associated with database 42 that may include,without limitation: a username; a password; a telephone number;communication port settings; database specifications; library and filenames; directory paths; library and file paths; protocol information;and any other information suitable for communicating information to andreceiving information from database 42.

Data communications system 10 may operate on one or more computers 50that are integral to or separate from the hardware and software thatsupport network 12, agents 36, system server 30, database server 34, anddatabase 42. Computer 50 may include an input device 52, such as akeypad, touch screen, microphone, or other device that can acceptsuitable information. An output device 54 may convey informationassociated with the operation of data communications system 10,including digital or analog data, visual information, or audioinformation. Both input device 52 and output 54 may include fixed orremovable storage media, such as magnetic computer disk, CD-ROM, orother suitable media to both receive output from and provide input todata communications system 10. Computer 50 may have a processor 56 andan associated volatile or non-volatile memory to execute instructionsand manipulate information in accordance with the operation of datacommunications system 10.

In operation with respect to agents 36, an unidentified caller 14 placesa call to the organization using network 12 and link 22. Switchingsystem 20 receives the incoming call and prompts unidentified caller 14to provide an utterance, such as the spoken name of unidentified caller14, using the associated speech generation capability 24, by playing aprerecorded message, or in any other suitable manner. When unidentifiedcaller 14 responds by providing an utterance, switching system 20receives, digitizes, and records the utterance using facilities 13 and15, respectively. Switching system 20 communicates the digitizedutterance to system server 30 and queues the incoming call until anappropriate agent 36 becomes available. When an appropriate agent 36becomes available, switching system 20 transfers the call to theappropriate agent 36 and provides the identity of the selected agent 36to system server 30.

In parallel with the queuing and transfer of the incoming call, systemserver 30 communicates the digitized utterance to database server 34,which together with associated DBMS 43 searches records 44 contained indatabase 42 to compare the digitized utterance with the stored utteranceidentifiers corresponding to one or more known callers. If the digitizedutterance suitably duplicates, resembles, matches, or is otherwisecorrelated with a stored utterance identifier according to one or morematch parameters 46, unidentified caller 14 is identified as the knowncaller corresponding to the particular stored utterance identifier.Database server 34 retrieves account data, order data, identity data, orother suitable information for the known caller from database 42 andcommunicates this information to the selected agent 36 in some suitablemanner using system server 30 and link 31.

Data communications system 10 may coordinate and synchronize theidentification of and transfer of the call to selected agent 36; theidentification of unidentified caller 14 as a particular known caller;the retrieval of information corresponding to the known caller fromdatabase 42; and the communication, delivery, or presentation of theinformation to selected agent 36 using any appropriate technique,whether or not switching system 20 and system server 30 are integratedwith one another. After the selected agent 36 receives the retrievedinformation for the formerly unidentified caller 14, the selected agentmay interact with the caller to handle the incoming call in somesuitable manner according to the needs of the caller or theorganization. The present invention contemplates identifying one or moreunidentified callers 14 using system 8 in any suitable business,organizational, or other context or application.

FIG. 2 illustrates a system 8 for identifying an unidentified caller 14in a voice messaging environment that includes a data communicationssystem 11, a network 12, and a database 42. The components and operationof system 9 that includes data communications system 11 are similar tothose discussed above with reference to FIG. 1 and system 8 thatincludes data communications system 10. System 9 may or may not includeswitching system 20, automated attendant capability 26, system server30, or agents 36. The present invention contemplates system 9 thatincludes data communications system 11 replacing or combining withsystem 8 that includes data communications system 10 in some manner.Similar to data communications system 10 discussed above, datacommunications system 11 may operate on one or more computers 50 thatare integral to or separate from the hardware and software that supportnetwork 12, database server 34, and database 42.

Voice messaging system 60 may be any voice mail or other system forreceiving, recording, and storing messages from one or more unidentifiedcallers 14 within or outside the organization. Voice messaging system 60may be the is same as, may replace, or may combine with voice messagingcapability 25 of data communications system 10 in some suitable manner.Voice messaging system 60 may be integral to or separate from atelephone switching system, such as switching system 20 discussed abovein connection with FIG. 1, and may receive incoming calls directly orthrough such a telephone switching system. Voice messaging system 60 mayinclude analog-to-digital conversion facility 13, recording facility 15,a speech recognition capability (SR) 23, speech generation capability24, or any other suitable voice processing or call processingcapabilities 28, in any combination, whether directly integrated intovoice messaging system 60 or as adjunct processors operating on one ormore computers or other processing devices at one or more locations andsuitably coupled to voice messaging system 60.

In operation, an unidentified caller 14 places a call to theorganization using network 12 and link 22. Voice messaging system 60receives the incoming call and, if voice messaging system 60 is notconnected to a telephone system in such a way as to determine theidentity of unidentified caller 14 according to the location, switchingsystem, trunk line, or telephone number associated with unidentifiedcaller 14, prompts unidentified caller 14 to provide an utterance in themanner discussed above in connection with FIG. 1. When unidentifiedcaller 14 responds by providing an utterance, voice messaging system 60receives, digitizes, and records the utterance using facilities 13 and15, respectively.

Voice messaging system 60 communicates the digitized utterance todatabase server 34, which together with associated DBMS 43 searchesrecords 44 contained in database 42 to compare the digitized utterancewith stored utterance identifiers corresponding to one or more knowncallers. If the digitized utterance suitably duplicates, resembles,matches, or is otherwise correlated with a particular utteranceidentifier according to one or more match parameters 46, unidentifiedcaller 14 is identified as the known caller corresponding to theparticular utterance identifier. Database server 34 retrievesappropriate information concerning the known caller from database 42,such as a name or other identifier corresponding to the known caller,and communicates this information to voice messaging system 60. Voicemessaging system 60 prompts formerly unidentified caller 14 to provide amessage, records the resulting message, associates the identity offormerly unidentified caller 14 with the message, and stores theassociated identity and message corresponding to formerly unidentifiedcaller 14 for subsequent communication to a user of voice messagingsystem 60.

When a user of voice messaging system 60 accesses voice messaging system60, using a telephone connection, an integrated computer system, or insome other suitable manner, voice messaging system 60 provides the userwith the identity of formerly unidentified caller 14 to indicate that amessage corresponding to formerly unidentified caller 14 has beenrecorded. Voice messaging system 60 may provide the identity of formerlyunidentified caller 14 to the user separately from or together with therecorded message. Where messages corresponding to multiple unidentifiedcallers 14 have been recorded, voice messaging system 60 may provide theuser with the identities of these formerly unidentified callers, in theform of a chronological list or otherwise, separately from or togetherwith the corresponding recorded messages.

FIGS. 3a through 3 c illustrate several exemplary relationships betweenaccount identifiers corresponding to one or more known callers andidentity data, order data, and utterance data, respectively, for theknown callers. Although in one embodiment, the tables discussed belowmay be related to one another using these account identifiers, thepresent invention contemplates using any suitable field within a record44 to relate the record 44 to one or more other records 44 or tables ofrecords 44 within database 42, according to relational databasetechniques or in some other suitable manner. An account identifier for aknown caller may include, for example, an account number for an accountthe known caller has with the organization. The present inventioncontemplates a particular known caller having multiple accounts andtherefore multiple account identifiers and multiple records 44 in one ormore of the tables discussed below.

FIG. 3a illustrates a table 100 that contains one or more records 44 foreach known caller. Each record 44 includes an account identifier 102that corresponds to a particular known caller and is associated withidentity data 104 for the known caller. For each known caller, identitydata 104 may include, without limitation: a last name, first name,middle name or initial, or other suitable identifier 106; a gender 108;a street or other address 110; a city, county, state, country, or otherlocation of residence 112; a phone number, facsimile number, networkaddress, or other suitable communications identifier 114; anorganization or firm identifier 116; a department or strategic businessunit (SBU) identifier 118; a security clearance 120; and any otheridentity information concerning a known caller and suitable forassociating with an account identifier 102 for the known caller. Thepresent invention contemplates multiple tables 100 arranged in anysuitable manner to contain one or more account identifiers 102 inassociation with identity data 104 for each known caller.

FIG. 3b illustrates a table 130 that contains one or more records 44 foreach known caller that each include an account identifier 102 thatcorresponds to a particular known caller and associated order data 132for the known caller. Although order data 132 is discussed, the presentinvention contemplates one or more other tables containing records 44for any type of information concerning the known callers, for example,banking, purchase, account, or other data concerning relationships theknown callers have with the organization. Table 130 may contain multiplerecords 44 and order data 132 for any known caller, corresponding tomultiple orders for the known caller.

Within each record 44, order data 132 may include, without limitation: aunique order identifier 134 assigned to the order by the organization orotherwise; an order date 136; a part number 138 assigned to each ordereditem by the manufacturer or otherwise; a manufacturer identifier 140 foreach ordered item; a serial number 142 for each ordered item; anindividual, aggregate, or other purchase amount 144 for the ordereditems; an order status 146; and any other information suitable foridentifying, tracking, maintaining billing and inventory records for, orrelating in any other suitable manner to the order that corresponds tothe particular record 44.

FIG. 3c illustrates a table 160 that contains one or more records 44 foreach known caller that each include an account identifier 102 thatcorresponds to the particular known caller and associated utterance data162 for the known caller. For each record 44, utterance data 162 mayinclude, without limitation: an utterance identifier 164 that includesany suitable digital or other representation of a verbal utteranceprovided by the particular known caller associated with the record 44;parametric encoding data 165 corresponding to the utterance or one ormore characteristics of the known caller; an utterance length 166 thatis measured, assessed, calculated, or otherwise determined in anysuitable manner according to any suitable scale; an average or otherutterance pitch 168 that is measured, assessed, calculated, or otherwisedetermined in any suitable manner according to any suitable scale; thename 106 for the known caller; the gender 108 for the known caller,which may be associated in some manner with the utterance pitch 168; andany other information concerning an utterance of a known caller that issuitable for comparison in some manner with corresponding informationgenerated for an utterance provided by an unidentified caller 14.

Table 160 may contain one or more records 44 for each account identifier102, each record 44 containing utterance data 162 that corresponds to aseparately digitized and recorded utterance of the known callerassociated with the account identifier 102. Furthermore, database 42 maycontain multiple tables 160, each table corresponding to a specifiedrange, minimum, maximum, or other value for one or more fields withinutterance data 162, such as utterance length 166, utterance pitch 168,gender 108, or other suitable field. For example, a first table 160might contain records 44 having utterance lengths 166 within a firstrange of values, a second table 160 might contain records 44 havingutterance lengths 166 within a second range of values, and a third table160 might contain records 44 having utterance lengths 166 within a thirdrange of values. In identifying an unidentified caller 14, datacommunications system 10 may determine the length of the digitizedutterance for unidentified caller 14 and compare the digitized utteranceto one or more utterance identifiers 164 contained in the particulartable 160 that corresponds to the length of the digitized utterance.Database 42 may contain as many tables 160 and types of tables 160 asare necessary or desirable.

Parametric encoding data 165 may be stored separately from or togetherwith a corresponding utterance identifier 164. In one embodiment,parametric encoding data 165 might represent one or more fields ofidentity data 104, order data 132, utterance data 162, or any otherinformation concerning the particular known caller that is suitable forassociation with utterance identifier 164 to identify an unidentifiedcaller 14. For example, parametric encoding data 165 might take the formof one or more moment invariants as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,053,710to represent the utterance for the known caller more concisely than theutterance is represented by the corresponding utterance identifier 164.A moment invariant is defined in U.S. Pat. No. 4,053,710, for a twodimensional waveform or wave pattern, as a measurement derived from themoment of the waveform, the moment being independent of the waveformposition and the waveform size along the two dimensions. The momentinvariants may be calculated by switching system 20 or an associatedprocessing capability and then stored instead of, or in addition to,utterance identifier 164, which may digitally represent the utterance inits entirety.

FIGS. 4a and 4 b represent a flow chart of a method of identifying anunidentified caller 14. The method begins at step 200, where anunidentified caller 14 places a call to the organization using network12 and link 22. Although system 8 may receive and process incoming callsfrom multiple unidentified callers 14 serially, more or lesssimultaneously, or in any other temporal relationship, the method isdiscussed herein with reference to a single unidentified caller 14. Atstep 202, switching system 20 receives the incoming call fromunidentified caller 14 and, at step 204, generates a greeting forcommunication to unidentified caller 14. Switching system 20 maygenerate the greeting using speech generation capability 24, may play aprerecorded message to generate the greeting, or may generate thegreeting in any other suitable manner.

In one embodiment, the greeting generated at step 204 promptsunidentified caller 14 to select a destination for the call at step 206.For example, and not by way of limitation, switching system 20 andassociated automated attendant capability 26 may prompt unidentifiedcaller 14 to select a call destination by playing a prerecorded messagesimilar to the following: “Press or say ‘1’ to be connected to ourservice department, press or say ‘2’ to be connected to our orderprocessing department, or stay on the line to speak with one of ourcustomer service representatives.” One or more agents 36 may each beassociated with a particular call destination. As discussed below,switching system 20 may transfer the unidentified caller 14 to aparticular agent 36 associated with the selected call destination at anyappropriate time during the operation of system 8.

Either before or after unidentified caller 14 selects a call destinationat step 208, switching system 20 prompts unidentified caller 14 at step210 to provide an utterance, for example, any sound, word, or phrase,such as the name or account number of unidentified caller 14, that issuitable for comparison with one or more stored utterance identifiers164 corresponding to one or more known callers. Switching system 20 mayprompt unidentified caller 14 to provide an utterance using speechgeneration capability 24, by playing a prerecorded message tounidentified caller 14, such as “Whom may we say is calling?,” or in anyother suitable manner. At step 212, unidentified caller 14 responds byproviding the requested utterance. If the utterance provided byunidentified caller 14 is inaudible, improper, or unsatisfactory at step214, according to one or more specified parameters, the method returnsto step 210, where unidentified caller 14 is again prompted to providean utterance. If the utterance is satisfactory at step 214, switchingsystem 20 digitizes the utterance at step 216 using analog-to-digitalconversion facility 13 and records the digitized utterance at step 218using recording facility 15.

At step 220, switching system 20 communicates the digitized utterance tosystem server 30 using link 32. At step 222, switching system 20 queuesthe incoming call pending the availability of an appropriate agent 36 tohandle the incoming call, for example, a particular agent 36 associatedwith the call destination selected at step 208. Switching system 20 mayperform steps 220 and 222 more or less in parallel, such that the branchof the method beginning at step 220 proceeds more or less in parallelwith the branch of the method beginning at step 222. Referring to thebranch beginning at step 220, system server 30 receives the digitizedutterance corresponding to unidentified caller 14 at step 224 and, atstep 226, communicates the digitized utterance to database server 34 forcomparison with utterance identifiers 164 contained in database 42,tables 160, and records 44. As discussed above, database server 34 maybe integral to or separate from system server 30.

At step 228, database server 34 accesses database 42 using interface 41and communication parameters 48. At step 230, database server 34 andDBMS 43 search database 42 for one or more utterance identifiers 164that duplicate, resemble, match, correlate with, or otherwise comparefavorably to the digitized utterance corresponding to unidentifiedcaller 14, according to one or more match parameters 46. Alternatively,database server 34 may communicate one or more match parameters 46 toDBMS 43 in association with the key or other suitable identifier toallow DBMS 43 and database 42 to locate or otherwise identify one ormore utterance identifiers 164 that duplicate, resemble, match,correlate with, or otherwise compare favorably to the digitizedutterance corresponding to unidentified caller 14.

In one embodiment, parametric encoding data 165 may be searched insteadof, or in addition to, utterance identifiers 164 to identifyunidentified caller 14. The use of parametric encoding techniques inconnection with the search may speed the searching process, because thestorage size for parametric encoding data 165 may be smaller than thestorage size for corresponding utterance identifier 164. Furthermore,parametric encoding data 165 may be invariant with respect to factorsused to identify unidentified caller 14. As a result, database server 34and associated DBMS 43 may handle less data in searching database 42 toidentify the unidentified caller 14 as a particular known callerrepresented in database 42.

One or more tables 160 may be searched serially, more or lesssimultaneously, or in any other suitable manner. One or more tables 160may be selectively searched according to one or more characteristics ofunidentified caller 14 or the utterance provided by unidentified caller14, such as the gender of unidentified caller 14, the length of theutterance or corresponding digital representation, the average pitch ofthe utterance or corresponding digital representation, or other suitablecharacteristic. The present invention contemplates any suitabletechnique for comparing a digitized, parametric, or other representationof an utterance for unidentified caller 14 with utterance identifiers164 or parametric encoding data 165, in any combination, for one or moreknown callers to identify unidentified caller 14 as a particular knowncaller.

The correlation between an utterance identifier 164 or parametricencoding data 165 and the digitized, parametric, or other representationof the utterance for unidentified caller 14 may be measured, assessed,calculated, or otherwise determined in any suitable manner. For example,parametric encoding techniques may allow database server 34 or anothercomponent of data communications system 10 to generate one or morediscrimination thresholds that may be used to determine whether thedigitized utterance matches an utterance identifier 164 closely enoughfor unidentified caller 14 to be identified as the particular knowncaller corresponding to the utterance identifier 164. Parametricencoding techniques may allow database server 34 or another component ofdata communications system 10 to calculate, arrive at, or otherwisedetermine a figure of merit, using one or more merit parameterscontained in match parameters 46, a discrimination threshold, or othersuitable factor, to indicate the certainty of an identification.

If a match is found for the digitized utterance corresponding tounidentified caller 14 at step 232, database server 34 may measure,assess, calculate, or otherwise determine a figure of merit for thematch at step 234. At step 236, database server 34 and associated DBMS43 retrieve information from database 42 corresponding to the knowncaller with which formerly unidentified caller 14 has been identified.The retrieved information may include some or all of the identity data104, order data 132, or utterance data 162 for the known caller,banking, purchase, account or other data for the known caller, or anyother information associated with the known caller and contained indatabase 42. Database server 34 communicates the retrieved informationto system server 30 at step 238. At step 240, system server 30communicates some or all of the retrieved information to an appropriateagent 36 in coordination with information received from switching system20, as discussed below in connection with the branch of the methodbeginning at step 222.

At step 222, switching system 20 queues the incoming call fromunidentified caller 14 pending the availability of an appropriate agent36 to handle the incoming call. If an appropriate agent 36 is notavailable at step 242, the method loops until an appropriate agentbecomes available. If an appropriate agent 36 is available at step 242,for example, a selected agent 36 associated with the call destinationprovided by unidentified caller 14 at step 208, then switching system 20transfers the incoming call to selected agent 36 at step 244. At step246, switching system 20 communicates the identity, location, networkaddress, or other suitable routing or communication informationconcerning selected agent 36 to system server 30. System server 30 thencommunicates the retrieved information to selected agent 36 in somesuitable manner at step 240.

Coordinating and synchronizing the identification of selected agent 36using switching system 20, the identification of unidentified caller 14as a particular known caller, the retrieval of information correspondingto the known caller from database 42, and the communication, delivery,or presentation of the information to selected agent 36 may beaccomplished using any suitable technique. Such techniques may include,for example, and not by way of limitation: the technique disclosed inU.S. Pat. No. 5,309,504, which is incorporated by reference herein; oneor more techniques according to a TSAPI specification; one or moretechniques according to a telecommunications system provider'sproprietary interface; or any other suitable “screen popping” or othertechnique. In one embodiment, switching system 20 and system server 30are integrated to more easily coordinate and synchronize theidentification of selected agent 36, the identification of unidentifiedcaller 14 as a particular known caller, and the communication ofretrieved information concerning the known caller to the selected agent36.

As discussed above, database server 34 or another component of datacommunications system 10 may calculate or otherwise determine a figureof merit to indicate the extent of the correlation or the certainty ofthe match between the digitized utterance for formerly unidentifiedcaller 14 and the utterance identifier 164 for the particular knowncaller with which formerly unidentified caller 14 has been identified.In one embodiment, the figure of merit is communicated to selected agent36 along with the retrieved information for the particular known caller.If either a figure of merit has not been provided at step 248, or hasbeen provided at step 248 and is deemed acceptable by selected agent 36at step 250, in accordance with one or more specified parameters, themethod proceeds directly to step 254, where selected agent 36 interactswith formerly unidentified caller 14 in some suitable manner accordingto the needs of the caller or the organization. If a figure of merit hasbeen provided at step 248, but is not deemed acceptable by selectedagent 36 at step 250, selected agent 36 may interactively verify theidentity of formerly unidentified caller 14 according to conventionaltechniques at step 252. After selected agent 36 handles the call in somesuitable manner at step 254, the method ends.

If data communications system 10 is unable to match or suitablycorrelate the digitized utterance for unidentified caller 14 with anutterance identifier 164 corresponding to a known caller at step 232,the agent 36 selected by switching system 20 may interactively verifythe identity of unidentified caller 14 according to conventionaltechniques at step 256. In one embodiment, the present invention isself-learning, such that if no match has been made at step 232 andunidentified caller 14 is identified interactively at step 256, system 8may receive and store information for unidentified caller 14 for use inidentifying subsequent unidentified callers 14. For example, database 42may not contain utterance data 162 to identify unidentified caller 14when unidentified caller 14 calls the organization, because unidentifiedcaller 14 may have had no previous interaction with the organization.Furthermore, database 42 may not yet contain utterance data 162 for anyknown callers, due to the length of time system 8 has been operating orfor any other reason.

At step 258, data communications system 10 may create a record 44 forformerly unidentified caller 14 containing an utterance identifier 164and other utterance data 162 generated using the utterance provided atstep 212. At step 260, the created record 44 for formerly unidentifiedcaller 14 may be stored in one or more tables 160 within database 42.The created record 44 for formerly unidentified caller 14 may beassociated with identity data 104, order data 132, or utterance data162, banking, purchase, or account data, or other information concerningformerly unidentified caller 14, whether the information is generatedbefore, during, or after the record 44 is created. In one embodiment,the created record 44 will correspond to a known caller for purposes ofidentifying subsequent unidentified callers 14 from among a universe ofknown callers. Before, during, or after storing the created record 44 atstep 260, selected agent 36 handles the call in some suitable manner atstep 254 and the method ends.

FIGS. 5a and 5 b represent a flow chart of a method of identifying anunidentified caller 14 in a voice messaging environment. The methodbegins at step 300, where an unidentified caller 14 places a call to theorganization using network 12 and link 22. Although the presentinvention contemplates system 9 receiving and processing incoming callsfrom multiple unidentified callers 14 serially, more or lesssimultaneously, or in any other temporal relationship, the method isdiscussed herein with reference to a single unidentified caller 14.Voice messaging system 60 receives the incoming call from unidentifiedcaller 14 at step 302 and, at step 304, determines whether unidentifiedcaller 14 can be identified using one or more conventional techniques.For example, if the incoming call originates from an extension,location, site, account, mail station, or other entity that is integralto voice messaging system 60, such as a computer terminal coupled to anorganization PBX, then voice messaging system 60 may identifyunidentified caller 14 using information provided by unidentified caller14 during the sign on process.

If voice messaging system 60 identifies unidentified caller 14 at step304, based on the origin of the incoming call or otherwise, then themethod proceeds to step 330, where voice messaging system 60 promptsunidentified caller 14 to provide a message for subsequent communicationto a user of voice messaging system 60. If voice messaging system 60does not identify unidentified caller 14 at step 304, for whateverreason, then voice messaging system 60 generates a greeting forcommunication to unidentified caller 14 at step 306 in the mannerdiscussed above in connection with FIGS. 4a and 4 b. In one embodiment,the greeting prompts unidentified caller 14 at step 308 to provide anutterance, for example, any sound, word, or phrase, such as a name orother identifier corresponding to unidentified caller 14, that issuitable for comparison with one or more utterance identifiers 164corresponding to one or more known callers and stored using database 42and tables 160.

At step 310, unidentified caller 14 responds by providing the requestedutterance. If the utterance is inaudible, improper, or otherwiseunsatisfactory at step 312, according to one or more specifiedparameters, the method returns to step 308, where unidentified caller 14is again prompted to provide an utterance. If the provided utterance issatisfactory at step 312, voice messaging system 60 digitizes theutterance at step 314 using analog-to-digital conversion facility 13 andrecords the utterance at step 316 using recording facility 15. Voicemessaging system 60 communicates the digitized utterance to databaseserver 34 at step 318 using link 32.

At step 320, database server 34 accesses database 42 using interface 41and communication parameters 48. At step 322, database server 34 andassociated DBMS 43 search database 42 for one or more utteranceidentifiers 164 that duplicate, resemble, match, correlate with, orotherwise compare favorably to the digitized utterance corresponding tounidentified caller 14, according to one or more match parameters 46. Asdiscussed above with reference to FIGS. 4a and 4 b, parametric encodingdata 165 may be searched instead of, or in addition to, utteranceidentifiers 164 to identify unidentified caller 14 from among a universeof known callers. If the digitized utterance corresponding tounidentified caller 14 matches an utterance identifier 164 at step 324,database server 34 may measure, assess, calculate, or otherwisedetermine a figure of merit for the identification of formerlyunidentified caller 14 at step 326 in the manner discussed above.

At step 327, database server 34 and associated DBMS 43 retrieveinformation from database 42 corresponding to the known caller withwhich formerly unidentified caller 14 has been identified. The retrievedinformation may include some or all of the identity data 104 for theknown caller, such as a name or other identifier 106 for the knowncaller, or any other information associated with the particular knowncaller and contained in database 42. Database server 34 communicates theretrieved information to voice messaging system 60 at step 328. In oneembodiment, the figure of merit determined at step 326 is communicatedto voice messaging system 60 together with or separately from theretrieved information.

At step 330, voice messaging system 60 prompts formerly unidentifiedcaller 14 to provide a message for subsequent communication to a user ofvoice messaging system 60. Voice messaging system 60 records anyresulting message at step 332, associates the identity of formerlyunidentified caller 14 with the recorded message at step 334, and storesthe associated identity and recorded message corresponding to formerlyunidentified caller 14 at step 336. Voice messaging system 60 may promptthe caller to provide and may record a message before, during, or afterthe caller provides an utterance for identification purposes. When auser of voice messaging system 60 accesses voice messaging system 60 atstep 358, using a telephone connection, an integrated computer system,or in some other suitable manner, voice messaging system 60 maycommunicate the identity of formerly unidentified caller 14 to the userto indicate that formerly unidentified caller 14 recorded a messageusing voice messaging system 60.

The present invention contemplates associating the identity of formerlyunidentified caller 14 with the recorded message corresponding toformerly unidentified caller 14 before, during, or after the useraccesses voice messaging system 60. Voice messaging system 60 mayprovide the identity of formerly unidentified caller 14 separately fromor together with the recorded message corresponding to formerlyunidentified caller 14. If multiple unidentified callers 14 haveinteracted with voice messaging system 60 to provide messages for auser, voice messaging system 60 may provide the user with the identitiesof the formerly unidentified callers 14 at step 360, in a chronologicallist or other suitable format, separately from or together with therecorded messages corresponding to the formerly unidentified callers 14.

Voice messaging system 60 may provide the identities and any otherinformation retrieved from database 42 for one or more formerlyunidentified callers 14 to the user in any appropriate manner. Forexample, if voice messaging system 60 is integral to, associated with,or suitably connected to a computer or other processing device such ascomputer 50, then voice messaging system 60 may provide some or all ofthe retrieved information using output device 54 or another devicesuitable for conveying visual information. Alternatively, if voicemessaging system 60 is accessed using a telephone only connection, forexample, by the user entering a voice mail box number, PBX extension, orother identifier, voice messaging system 60 may audibly convey theretrieved information, in whole or in part. The present inventioncontemplates any suitable combination of such techniques to provide theidentities of one or more formerly unidentified callers 14 for whichmessages have been recorded to a user of voice messaging system 60.

Voice messaging system 60 may provide the identities of one or moreformerly unidentified callers 14, in a chronological list format orotherwise, together with other retrieved or other information concerningformerly unidentified callers 14, the recorded messages corresponding toformerly unidentified callers 14, or any combination of the above. Forexample, for a recorded message corresponding to formerly unidentifiedcaller 14, voice messaging system 60 might provide, in any suitablerelative arrangement, without limitation: the identity of formerlyunidentified caller 14; the figure of merit associated with theidentification of formerly unidentified caller 14; the total number ofrecorded messages corresponding to formerly unidentified caller 14; thelength of the message; the time, day, and/or date the message wasrecorded; and any other suitable information concerning formerlyunidentified caller 14 or the particular recorded message. Once the useraccesses voice messaging system 60 and receives the identities offormerly unidentified callers 14 and any other appropriate informationat step 360, the method ends.

In one embodiment, system 9 is self-learning, such that if no match ismade at step 324 between the utterance provided by unidentified caller14 and an utterance identifier 164 corresponding to a known caller,system 9 creates a record 44 for the unidentified caller 14 that may beused to identify a subsequent unidentified caller 14 as the unidentifiedcaller 14 corresponding to the created record 44. For example, database42 may not contain utterance data 162 suitable to identify unidentifiedcaller 14, because unidentified caller 14 may have had no previousinteraction with the organization or voice messaging system 60.Moreover, database 42 may not yet contain utterance data 162 for anyknown callers, due to the length of time system 9 has been operating orfor some other reason. If the identity of unidentified caller 14 isverified in some suitable manner after the created record 44 isgenerated, the created record 44 for unidentified caller 14 may be usedas a record 44 that corresponds to a known caller to identify one ormore subsequent unidentified callers 14 in the manner discussed above.

If voice messaging system 60 cannot or does not match or suitablycorrelate the digitized utterance for unidentified caller 14 with anutterance identifier 164 corresponding to a known caller at step 324,for whatever reason, voice messaging system 60 may prompt unidentifiedcaller 14 to provide an utterance at step 338 in the manner discussedabove with reference to step 308. The present invention contemplatesvoice messaging system 60 using the utterance provided at step 308instead of, or in addition to, prompting unidentified caller 14 for anutterance at step 338. Unidentified caller 14 provides the requestedutterance at step 340 and, if the utterance is satisfactory at step 342,voice messaging system 60 digitizes and records the utterance at steps344 and 346, respectively. In one embodiment, voice messaging system 60may also translate the utterance into a format understandable to system9 using the associated speech recognition capability 23. If the providedutterance is not satisfactory at step 342, the method returns to step338, where unidentified caller 14 is again prompted to provide anutterance.

Before or after unidentified caller 14 is prompted to provide anutterance at step 338, voice messaging system 60 prompts unidentifiedcaller 14 to provide a message at step 348 for subsequent communicationto a user of voice messaging system 60. Voice messaging system 60records any resulting message at step 350 and associates the utterance,the translated utterance, or both the utterance and translated utterancefor unidentified caller 14 with the recorded message at step 352. Inconjunction with database server 42 and associated DBMS 43, voicemessaging system 60 creates a record 44 for unidentified caller 14 atstep 354 and, at step 356, stores the created record 44 in one or moretables 160 within database 42. In one embodiment, the created record 44for unidentified caller 14 contains an utterance identifier 164 thatdigitally represents the utterance provided by unidentified caller 14.One or more created records 44 may also contain other utterance data 162corresponding to the utterance and any other suitable information,whether or not associated with utterance identifier 164.

In one embodiment, the recorded utterance or the translation of theutterance for unidentified caller 14 is used to indicate to a user ofvoice messaging system 60 that a message corresponding to unidentifiedcaller 14 has been recorded. The created record 44 for unidentifiedcaller 14 is used to identify a subsequent unidentified caller 14 as theparticular unidentified caller 14 for which the created record 44 wasgenerated.

When a user of voice messaging system 60 accesses voice messaging system60 at step 358, voice messaging system 60 may communicate the utterance,the translated utterance, and any other suitable information concerningunidentified caller 14 to the user at step 360 using any of thetechniques discussed above. For example, if voice messaging system 60 isintegral to, associated with, or suitably connected to a computer orother processing device such as computer 50, then voice messaging system60 may provide a translation of the utterance, generated using speechrecognition capability 23, to the user using output device 54 or anotherdevice suitable for conveying visual information. Alternatively, ifvoice messaging system 60 is accessed using a telephone only connection,for example, by the user entering a voice mail box number, PBXextension, or other identifier, voice messaging system 60 may aurallyconvey the utterance to the user.

Voice messaging system 60 may provide utterances or translatedutterances for one or more unidentified callers 14, in a chronologicallist format or otherwise, together with or separately from: any othersuitable information concerning unidentified callers 14; the recordedmessages corresponding to unidentified callers 14; the identities offormerly unidentified callers 14; any other information concerningformerly unidentified callers 14; the recorded messages corresponding toformerly unidentified callers 14; or any combination of the above. Aftersystem 9 has a provided this information to the user at step 360, themethod ends.

FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary computer-based system 70 for identifyingan unidentified caller 14 that includes network 12, switching system 20,and processing system 72. Processing system 72 may include, withoutlimitation: a control module (CONTROL) 74; a match module (MATCH) 76; avoice board 78; recording facility 15; speech generation capability 24;voice messaging capability 25; automated attendant capability 26; matchparameters 46; communications parameters 48; database 42; and any othersuitable components. In one embodiment, processing system 72 operates ona called party's personal or other computer 50 in a home setting,business or other organizational setting, or any other suitableenvironment to provide some or all of the functionality discussed abovewith reference to FIG. 1. The present invention contemplates: some orall of switching system 20 being integral to computer 50; processingsystem 72 distributed to operate on multiple computers 50 or telephoneunits at one or more locations; components of processing system 72, suchas database 42, being integral to or separate from processing system 72;or processing system 72, computer 50, switching system 20, or anycombination of the above being integral to a called party's telephoneunit. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that other suitablearrangements may be devised without departing from the intended scope ofthe present invention.

Voice board 78 includes appropriate circuitry for detecting ringingsignals or other call origination signals and for performinganalog-to-digital or digital-to-analog conversion, as the case may be.Voice board 78 is of a type well known in the art and may be in the formof a computer-oriented modem, in the form of a specialized voice boardof the type manufactured by DIALOGIC CORPORATION or RHETORIX CORPORATIONand used for computer telephony integration (CTI), or in any othersuitable form. Voice board 78 may replace or combine withanalog-to-digital conversion facility 13 shown in FIG. 1.Analog-to-digital conversion may alternatively be performed usingcapabilities associated with switching system 20. Match module (MATCH)76 performs functionality discussed above with reference to FIG. 1 foridentifying unidentified callers 14 by comparing utterance informationfor unidentified callers 14 with stored utterance data 162 for knowncallers. Control module (CONTROL) 74 coordinates communications betweenvarious components of processing system 72 according to the operation ofprocessing system 72 and system 70. Using the capabilities discussedabove, system 70 identifies one or more unidentified callers 14 and, inresponse, provides one or more call routing options to a called party.The present invention contemplates processing system 72 routing calls ina pre-programmed manner according to the identification of some or allunidentified callers 14.

FIGS. 7a through 7 d illustrate option screens that processing system 72may present to the called party using output device 56 of computer 50, aliquid crystal display (LCD) or light emitting diode (LED) displayassociated with a telephone unit, or in any other suitable manneraccording to the operation of processing system 72 and activities of thecalled party. FIG. 7a illustrates first option screen 80 that ispresented to the called party in response to processing system 72receiving an incoming call from unidentified caller 14, receiving anutterance from unidentified caller 14, and identifying unidentifiedcaller 14 as a particular known caller. First option screen 80 includestextual information 82 that may include the date and time, the identityof formerly unidentified caller 14, an instructional or other message,and any other suitable information, in any combination. First optionscreen 80 also includes call routing options 84, which are presented tothe called party in the form of window buttons, as shown in FIG. 7a, asnumbered options, or in any other appropriate form. The presentinvention contemplates some or all of the information associated withfirst option screen 80 being presented to the called party audibly inaddition to or instead of visually.

In one embodiment, call routing options 84 include: (1) an accept option86 that the called party selects to accept the call from formerlyunidentified caller 14; (2) a voice messaging option 87 that the calledparty selects to transfer the call or otherwise leave a message to voicemessaging capability 25; (3) an attendant option 88 that the calledparty selects to transfer the call to a secretary or other assistant orto automated attendant capability 26, as the case may be; (4) adisconnect option 89 that the called party selects to disconnect thecall; and (5) any other call routing options 84. Voice messagingcapability 25 may be a message recording facility either collocated withor remote from the called party and the associated computer 50 ortelephone unit. Collectively, voice messaging option 87 and attendantoption 88 may be referred to as transfer option 90. The functionalityassociated with attendant option 88 may be separated among multipletransfer options 90. The called party may select from among call routingoptions 84 using a mouse or other suitable pointer to select anappropriate window button on output device 56, using a keyboard such asinput device 52 of computer 50 to enter an appropriate number orletters, or using any other suitable technique for indicating aselection. Processing system 72 may route calls from one or moreformerly unidentified callers 14 according to pre-programmed routinginformation in response to identifying unidentified callers 14 as knowncallers.

FIG. 7b illustrates second option screen 92 that is presented to thecalled party in response to the called party selecting accept option 86associated with first option screen 80. Similar to first option screen80, second option screen 92 includes textual information 82 and suitablecall routing options 84, which may include voice messaging option 87,attendant option 88, disconnect option 89, and any other appropriatecall routing options 84. As a result, the called party maintainsreal-time control over the call even after accepting the call, whichprovides an important technical advantage of the present invention. Asdiscussed above, the called party may select from among call routingoptions 84 using a mouse or other suitable pointer to select anappropriate window button on output device 56, using a keyboard such asinput device 52 of computer 50 to enter an appropriate number orletters, or using any other suitable technique.

In one embodiment, second option screen 92 includes textual information82 that instructs the called party to provide a corrected identity ifthe formerly unidentified caller 14 was identified incorrectly, becausethe formerly unidentified caller 14 provided an utterance sufficientlydifferent from one or more previous utterances for formerly unidentifiedcaller 14 or for any other reason. For example, and not be way oflimitation, unidentified caller 14 may have a changed name, a medical orother condition, or a relatively poor transmission facility. After thecalled party types, speaks, or otherwise enters or provides a correctedidentity, assuming one is necessary, the called party may causeprocessing system 72 to store the corrected identity of formerlyunidentified caller 14 with utterance information that processing system72 used to incorrectly identify the formerly unidentified caller 14 indatabase 42, as name 106 and corresponding utterance identifier 164. Thecalled party may use a store window button 94 on output device 56, keyson input device 52, or any other suitable technique to store thecorrected identity and utterance information.

FIG. 7c illustrates third option screen 98 presented to the called partyin response to processing system 72 receiving an incoming call fromunidentified caller 14, receiving an utterance from unidentified caller14, and being unable to adequately identify unidentified caller 14.Similar to first option screen 80, third option screen 96 includestextual information 82 and suitable call routing options 84, which mayinclude accept option 86, voice messaging option 87, attendant option88, disconnect option 89, and any other appropriate call routing options84. In one embodiment, textual information 82 may explain to the calledparty that the called party may register the identity of unidentifiedcaller 14 after selecting accept option 86 and identifying unidentifiedcaller 14 through personal interaction, as discussed more fully below.

FIG. 7d illustrates fourth option screen 98 that is presented to thecalled party in response to the called party selecting accept option 86associated with third option screen 96. Similar to second option screen92, fourth option screen 98 includes textual information 82 andappropriate call routing options 84, which may include voice messagingoption 87, attendant option 88, disconnect option 89, and any otherappropriate call routing options 84. As discussed above, the calledparty maintains real-time control over the call even after accepting thecall, providing an important technical advantage of the presentinvention. In one embodiment, fourth option screen 98 includes textualinformation 82 that instructs the called party to provide the identityof unidentified caller 14 for registering unidentified caller 14 withprocessing system 72. Textual information 82 may also invite the calledparty to select a name from a list 97 of known callers who mightpossibly be unidentified caller 14, based upon the similarity of theutterance information for unidentified caller 14 to stored utteranceidentifiers 164 for the known callers, but for whom no match could bemade to within the predetermined accuracy threshold.

After the called party provides the identity of unidentified caller 14or selects the identity of a known caller from list 97, the called partymay cause processing system 72 to store the identity as a new name 106in table 160 with the utterance information for unidentified caller 14or, if a known caller is selected from list 97, to store the utteranceinformation as an utterance identifier 164 associated with name 106 forthe known caller. The called party may register the formerlyunidentified caller 14 using a store window button 99 on output device56, keys of input device 52, or any other suitable technique. The calledparty may also select a cancel window button 91 or otherwise indicatethat the called party does not wish to register formerly unidentifiedcaller 14 with processing system 72. As the above discussion indicates,the present invention may be self-learning to increase the likelihoodthat processing system 72 will correctly identify the formerlyunidentified caller 14 the next time the formerly unidentified caller 14calls.

FIGS. 8a and 8 b are a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method ofidentifying an unidentified caller 14. The method begins at step 400,where unidentified caller 14 places a call to the called party, who maybe in a home, business or organizational, or any other suitable setting,using network 12 and link 22. Although system 70 may receive and processcalls from one or more unidentified callers 14 serially, more or lesssimultaneously, or in any other temporal relationship, the method isdiscussed with reference to a single unidentified caller 14. At step402, switching system 20 receives the incoming call and, at step 404,routes the call to voice board 78 of processing system 72. Voice board78 audibly prompts unidentified caller 14 to provide an utterance atstep 406 and, at step 408, unidentified caller 14 provides the requestedutterance. As discussed above, the utterance may be any sound, word, orphrase, such as the name of unidentified caller 14, suitable for beingdigitized and compared with previously stored utterance identifiers 164corresponding to one or more known callers.

If the utterance provided by unidentified caller 14 at step 408 isinaudible, improper, or unsatisfactory at step 410, according to one ormore specified parameters, the method returns to step 406, where voiceboard 78 again prompts unidentified caller 14 to provide an utterance.If the utterance is satisfactory at step 410, voice board 78 digitizesthe utterance at step 412 and processing system 72 records the digitizedutterance for unidentified caller 14 at step 414 using recordingfacility 15. At step 416, match module 76 of processing system 72attempts to match the digitized utterance for unidentified caller 14with an utterance identifier 164 contained in database 42 in the mannerdiscussed more fully above. If a match is found for the digitizedutterance at step 418, processing system 72 presents first option screen80 and the associated call routing options 84 to the called party atstep 420, using output device 56 of computer 50, an LCD or LED displayassociated with the called party's telephone unit, audibly using aspeaker or “head set” associated with computer 50, or in any otherappropriate manner.

If the called party accepts the call at step 422, for example, byselecting accept option 86 using a mouse or other pointer, keys on inputdevice 52 of computer 50, or in any other suitable manner, processingsystem 72 connects the called party to formerly unidentified caller 14at step 424. Processing system 72 may connect unidentified caller 14 tothe called party, for example, by coupling the phone line to amicrophone and speakers associated with computer 50 or the calledparty's telephone unit, to a “head set” associated with computer 50 orthe called party's telephone unit, or using any other appropriatetechnique. At step 426, processing system 72 presents the called partywith second option screen 92, which may be presented as an entirely newscreen on output device 56 or as a modified version of first optionscreen 80.

If the called party does not accept the call at step 422, and insteadselects another call routing option 84 for the call, processing system72 transfers or disconnects the call at step 432 according to the callrouting option 84 selected, and the method ends. For example, if voicemessaging option 87 is selected, formerly unidentified caller 14 istransferred to voice messaging capability 25 through a “switch hooktransfer,” telecommunications API (TAPI), TSAPI, or ISDN commands, orany other appropriate mechanism. If voice messaging system 25 isintegral to computer 50, transfer may be unnecessary and processingsystem 72 may invoke voice messaging capability 25 more or lessdirectly. Alternatively, if the called party selects attendant option88, formerly unidentified caller 14 is routed to an assistant, toautomated attendant capability 26, or to any other suitablepredetermined destination. As discussed above, this transfer may beperformed according to a “switch hook transfer” or standard commands.Another alternative for the called party is to select disconnect option89 to disconnect the call. The present invention contemplates other callrouting options 84 as alternatives to accept option 86. Processingsystem 72 may also route calls from some or all unidentified callers 14according to pre-programmed call routing information in response to theidentification of unidentified callers 14.

If formerly unidentified caller 14 has been identified in error at step434, for whatever reason, the called party may provide a correctedidentity at step 436 and store the corrected identity with the utteranceinformation for the formerly unidentified caller 14 at step 438, usingstore window button 94 or any other suitable technique, as name 106 andcorresponding utterance identifier 164 in database 42. Since the calledparty maintains real-time control over the call even after accepting thecall, the called party may select a transfer option 90 or disconnectoption 89 at step 440 according to particular needs, in which case themethod proceeds to step 432. Alternatively, the call may proceed at step442 until terminated in some manner at step 444, for example, when thecall reaches its natural conclusion and the called party hangs up, inwhich case the method ends. Steps 440 through 444 are repeated more orless continually until the called party transfers the call, disconnectsthe call, or the call is terminated in some other manner. If formerlyunidentified caller 14 was not identified in error at step 434, themethod proceeds to step 440 directly. Steps 434 through 444 may occur inany relative sequence according to the operation of processing system 72and the actions of the called party.

If processing system 72 is unable to find a match at step 418,processing system 72 presents third option screen 96 and the associatedcall routing options 84 to the called party using output device 56 or inany other suitable manner at step 428. If the called party selects atransfer option 90 or disconnect option 89 rather than selecting acceptoption 86 at step 430, then processing system 72 transfers ordisconnects the call at step 432 according to the selected call routingoption 84, and the method ends. If the called party selects acceptoption 86 at step 430, processing system 72 presents the called partywith fourth option screen 98 at step 446. If fourth option screen 98includes a list 97 of one or more known callers for which utteranceidentifiers 164 possibly match the utterance information for theformerly unidentified caller 14 at step 448, and one of the knowncallers is in fact the formerly unidentified caller 14, the called partymay select the identity of a particular known caller at step 450. Atstep 452, the called party may store the utterance information for theformerly unidentified caller 14 with name 106 for the correspondingknown caller in database 42, and the method proceeds to step 440, wherethe called party may exercise real-time control over the call byselecting a is call routing option 84.

If fourth option screen 98 does not include a list 97 of one or moreknown callers for which stored utterance identifiers 164 possibly matchthe utterance information for formerly unidentified caller 14, or if noknown caller in list 97 is in fact the formerly unidentified caller 14,the called party may register formerly unidentified caller 14 withprocessing system 72 at step 454. The called party may type, speak, orotherwise enter the identity of the formerly unidentified caller 14 atstep 456 and, at step 458, may store the utterance information for theformerly unidentified caller 14 with the identity of the formerlyunidentified caller 14 in database 42 as name 106 and correspondingutterance identifier 164. The method then proceeds to step 440, wherethe called party may exercise real-time control over the call. If thecalled party does not elect to register the formerly unidentified caller14 with processing system 72 at step 454, the method proceeds directlyto step 440.

FIG. 9 illustrates an exemplary system 500 for identifying one or moreunidentified customers 510 at the point of sale. System 500 includes oneor more processing systems 502, each operating on a computer 50 andcoupled to a voice input device 512, to database 42, and possibly to anagent 36. Voice input device 512 may be a telephone coupled to system500 using an appropriate network, a microphone, or other suitable voiceinput device. Agents 36 are discussed more fully above and may beautonomous or operated by one or more employees, representatives,operators, or other individuals associated with the establishment ororganization that may interact in some manner with unidentifiedcustomers 510 before, during, and after the identification process.

Each processing system 502 includes, without limitation: control module74, match module 76, analog-to-digital conversion facility 13, recordingfacility 15, a conventional or other suitable speech recognitionfacility (SR) 17 of the type known to those skilled in the art, speechgeneration capability 24, match parameters 46, communications parameters48, interface 41, and any other components discussed above. Using theseand any other suitable components, system 500 identifies one or moreunidentified customers 510 at the point of sale from among a universe ofknown customers to provide access to goods, services, and any othersuitable benefits. In a particular embodiment, some or all of thecomponents of system 500, such as voice input device 512, processingsystem 502, agent 36, and database 42, may be integral to an automatedteller machine (ATM) operable to dispense currency to, receive depositsfrom, and provide any other suitable banking transactions for patrons ofa corresponding banking establishment.

In one embodiment, each processing system 502 within system 500 operateson one or more computers 50 at a particular point of sale to providefunctionality discussed above with reference to FIG. 1. Database 42 maybe replicated in whole or in part at each point of sale or may belocated remotely from processing systems 502 at a centralized location,for example, a centralized point of sale or organizational headquarters.The present invention contemplates multiple processing systems 502 atmultiple points of sale operating on the same distributed computer 50and contemplates database 42 being integral to or separate from one ormore processing systems 502. When database 42 is remote from processingsystem 502, processing system 502 communicates with database 42 usinginterface 41 and any suitable wireline or wireless link 506, asdiscussed above.

For purposes of this discussion, a point of sale may include anycommercial or other establishment or location, or portion thereof, atwhich one or more customers 510 may purchase, rent, otherwise receive,or order a tangible or intangible item, for example, a good, service, orother benefit. For example, the point of sale associated with aparticular processing system 502 may be a video rental point of sale, agrocery store point of sale, a banking point of sale, such as an ATMpoint of sale, a department store point of sale, a gasoline stationpoint of sale, a dry cleaning pont of sale, or any other appropriatepoint of sale. Moreover, the point of sale may be a Social SecurityAdministration point of sale, a Department of Health and Human Servicespoint of sale, Federal job training center point of sale, or other pointof sale at which monetary or other governmental benefits are provided.Recipients of such benefits are considered customers for purposes ofthis discussion.

A single establishment or location, such as a large department store,may include multiple points of sale, for example, at each cash registerin the store. The point of sale may also be a telephone or personalcomputer in a home, business, or other suitable setting that includesthe requisite components and from which items or other benefits may bepurchased, rented, ordered, or otherwise requested. For example,unidentified customer 510 may call or dial in from a telephone orpersonal computer point of sale in the home to purchase an item, inwhich case the identification process may be performed at the point ofsale, at the other end of the link associated with the organization fromwhich the item is purchased, or at some other remote location. Thoseskilled in the art will appreciate that system 500 may operate inconnection with other suitable points of sale without departing from theintended scope of the present invention.

Communications from unidentified customers 510 to processing systems502, represented by arrows 504, may be conventional speechcommunications, speech communications transmitted using an appropriatewireless communications technique, or any other suitable verbalcommunications. These communications are received at voice input device512 and converted into electrical signals for use by processing system502 in identifying unidentified customer 510 from among a universe ofknown customers at the point of sale. As discussed above, processingsystem 502 may perform the customer identification local to or remotefrom the point of sale.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method of identifyingone or more unidentified customers 510 at the point of sale. The methodbegins at step 550, where agent 36 or another suitable component ofsystem 500 may audibly or visually prompt unidentified customer 510 toprovide an utterance at the point of sale. At step 552, unidentifiedcustomer 510 provides the requested utterance. As discussed above, theutterance may be any sound, word, or phrase, such as the name ofunidentified customer 510, suitable for being digitized and comparedwith previously stored utterance identifiers 164 corresponding to one ormore known customers. If the utterance that is provided by unidentifiedcustomer 510 at step 552 is inaudible, improper, or otherwiseunsatisfactory at step 554, in accordance with one or more specifiedparameters, the method returns to step 550, where system 500 againprompts unidentified customer 510 to provide an utterance. If theutterance is satisfactory at step 554, processing system 502 digitizesthe utterance at step 556 and records the digitized utterance at step558 in the manner discussed above.

At step 560, processing system 502 attempts to match the digitizedutterance for unidentified customer 510 with an utterance identifier 164contained in database 42 in the manner discussed more fully above. If amatch is found for the digitized utterance at step 562, processingsystem 502 may measure, assess, calculate, or otherwise determine afigure of merit for the match at step 564. At step 566, processingsystem 502 and DBMS 43 cooperate to retrieve information from database42 corresponding to the known customer with which formerly unidentifiedcustomer 510 has been identified. Although identity data 104, order data132, utterance data 162, and other data contained in database 42 isdiscussed above in connection with callers, database 42 may containanalogous information for one or more known customers instead of or inaddition to information concerning known callers.

The retrieved information may include some or all of the identity data104, order data 132, or utterance data 162 for the known customer;banking, purchase, account or other data for the known customer; or anyother suitable information associated with the known customer andcontained in database 42. In one embodiment, this other informationretrieved from database 42 may include one or more purchase historiesfor formerly unidentified customer 510 that evidence or reflect dates;times; frequencies; amounts; brands; product types; a PIN, password, orother identifier used to authorize all or particular types oftransactions; and any other purchasing information, in any combination.Although purchasing information is discussed, this information mayinclude any information associated with the provision or receipt of atangible or intangible benefit, however such benefit is transferred,with or without consideration. The retrieved information is thenprovided to agent 36 at the point of sale at step 568 using any suitable“screen popping” or other technique discussed more fully above.

As discussed more fully above, processing system 502 may calculate orotherwise determine a figure of merit at step 564 to indicate the extentof the correlation or the certainty of the match between the digitizedutterance for formerly unidentified customer 510 and the utteranceidentifier 164 for the particular known customer with which formerlyunidentified customer 510 has been identified. In one embodiment, thefigure of merit is communicated to agent 36 along with the retrievedinformation for the particular known customer. If either a figure ofmerit has not been provided at step 570, or has been provided at step570 and is deemed acceptable by agent 36 or processing system 502 atstep 572 in accordance with one or more specified parameters, the methodproceeds directly to step 574, where agent 36 interacts with formerlyunidentified customer 510 in some suitable manner at the point of saleaccording to the needs of the customer and the nature of theestablishment. If a figure of merit has been provided at step 570, butis not deemed acceptable at step 572, agent 36 may interactively verifythe identity of formerly unidentified customer 510 using conventionaltechniques at step 576.

Whether or not a figure of merit is provided at step 570 or deemedacceptable at step 572, processing system 502 or agent 36 may promptformerly unidentified customer 510 at step 584 to provide a PIN,password, or other suitable identifier to authorize one or moretransactions formerly unidentified customer 510 is trying to complete.For example, processing system 502 or agent 36 may require formerlyunidentified customer 510 to enter a PIN, either manually or verbally,to authorize purchases that exceed a predetermined price threshold orinclude particular items. At step 586, processing system 502 or agent 36compares the provided PIN with a PIN previously stored in one or morerecords 44 in database 42 to authorize the purchases. A PIN, password,or other suitable identifier may be required for all transactions orparticular types of transactions according to particular needs.

In one embodiment, if a match is made at step 562, whether or not afigure of merit is calculated or deemed acceptable, processing system502 or agent 36 may also prompt formerly unidentified customer 510 toprovide a security utterance at step 588, such as the current time ordate, that processing system 502 uses to provide further security andprevent fraud. For example, after formerly unidentified customer 510 hasprovided the current date as requested, processing system 502 usesspeech recognition capability 17 to convert the security utterance to aform suitable for comparison at step 590 with time and date informationthat computer 50 maintains and updates more or less continuously duringnormal processing. If the current date that formerly unidentifiedcustomer 510 provided is correct at step 592, it is much less likelythat a person has simply previously recorded an utterance of formerlyunidentified customer 510 and used this recorded utterance in an attemptto fraudulently obtain a good, service, or other benefit using system500. If the security utterance is not acceptable at step 592, agent 36may interact with formerly unidentified customer 510 as appropriate toverify the identification of formerly unidentified customer 510 as theknown customer to reduce or eliminate the potential for fraud.

In addition to verifying the accuracy of the provided securityutterance, processing system 502 may compare the security utterance withstored utterance data 162 for formerly unidentified customer 510 inorder to verify the identification made at step 562 using the techniquesdiscussed above. In one embodiment, a time or date such as described forthe security utterance is the utterance prompted at step 550 andprovided at step 552 for initially identifying unidentified customer 510from among a universe of known customers, which provides additionalsecurity over an utterance, for example, that contains only the name ofunidentified customer 510.

The present invention also provides further security over previoussystems, such as an ATM that requires users to input a magnetic card,because voice characteristics may change during an attempted robbery tothe extent that no match can be made at step 562 and no good, service,or other benefit is provided. Processing system 502 may also use speechrecognition facility 17 to recognize one or more predetermined distress,maintenance, or other utterances that prompt processing system 502 toalert or summon law enforcement authorities, maintenance personnel, orother appropriate persons or devices. Other security measures may besupported without departing from the intended scope of the presentinvention. After agent 36 interacts with customer 510 in some suitablemanner at step 574, for example, to provide a good, service, or otherbenefit, or to decline to provide a good, service, or other benefit, themethod ends.

If processing system 502 is unable to match or suitably correlate thedigitized utterance for unidentified customer 510 with an utteranceidentifier 164 corresponding to a known customer at step 562, agent 36may interactively verify the identity of unidentified customer 510according to conventional techniques at step 578. In one embodiment, thepresent invention is self-learning, such that if no match has been madeat step 562 and unidentified customer 510 is identified interactively atstep 578, system 500 may receive and store information for unidentifiedcustomer 510 for use in identifying subsequent unidentified customers510. For example, database 42 may not contain utterance data 162 toidentify a particular unidentified customer 510 when unidentifiedcustomer 510 visits the establishment, for example, because unidentifiedcustomer 510 may have had no prior interaction with the establishment.Furthermore, database 42 may not yet contain utterance data 162 for anyknown customers, due to the length of time system 500 has been operatingor for any other reason.

At step 580, processing system 502 may create a record 44 for formerlyunidentified customer 510 containing an utterance identifier 164 andother utterance data 162 generated using the utterance provided at step552. At step 582, the created record 44 for formerly unidentifiedcustomer 510 may be stored in one or more tables 160 within database 42to register formerly unidentified customer 510 with system 500. Thecreated record 44 for the formerly unidentified customer 510 may beassociated with identity data 104, order data 132, or utterance data162; banking, purchase, or account data; or any other appropriateinformation concerning formerly unidentified customer 510, such aspurchasing information, whether the information is generated before,during, or after record 44 is created. In one embodiment, the createdrecord 44 will correspond to a known customer for purposes ofidentifying subsequent unidentified customers 510 from among a universeof known customers at the point of sale. Before, during, or afterstoring the created record 44 at step 582, agent 36 interacts withformerly unidentified customer 510 in some suitable manner at step 574,for example, to provide a good, service, or other benefit, or to declineto provide a good, service, or other benefit if appropriate, and themethod ends.

Although the present invention has been described with severalembodiments, a plethora of changes, substitutions, variations,alterations, transformations, and modifications may be suggested to oneskilled in the art, and it is intended that the present inventionencompass such changes, substitutions, variations, alterations,transformations, and modifications as fall within the spirit and scopeof the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for identifying a customer at a point ofsale to authorize a point of sale transaction, comprising: a databasecontaining stored voiceprint data identified with a known customer andan identifier for the known customer; an input device operable toreceive a new voice sample from a customer at the point of sale, thenewly received voice sample comprising one or more words each having ameaning, the newly received voice sample having at least onecharacteristic that is independent of the meaning of the words in thenewly received voice sample; and a processing system coupled to thedatabase and to the input device, the processing system operable to:compare, according to at least the characteristic, newly generatedvoiceprint data for the customer, reflective of the newly received voicesample from the customer, with at least some of the stored voiceprintdata identified with the known customer to identify the customer,identifying comprising determining an identity of the customer; accessthe identifier for the known customer reflecting the determined identityof the customer; provide the identifier for the known customerreflecting the determined identity of the customer to an agent at thepoint of sale to authorize the point of sale transaction; associate theidentifier for the known customer reflecting the determined identity ofthe customer with the newly generated voiceprint data for the customerin response to identifying the customer; and store the newly generatedvoiceprint data for the customer in the database to increase the amountof stored voiceprint data for the customer that is available forsubsequently identifying the customer to authorize subsequent point ofsale transactions.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the databasecontains voiceprint data corresponding to a plurality of knowncustomers.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the database is located ata location other than the point of sale.
 4. The system of claim 1,wherein the processing system is located at the point of sale.
 5. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the processing system is further operable toregister the identity of the customer.
 6. The system of claim 5, whereinthe processing system is further operable to: associate the identity ofthe customer with the new voiceprint data for the customer in responseto identifying the customer, this identification being based on thecomparison, according to at least the characteristic, of the newvoiceprint data reflective of the voice sample for the customer withstored voiceprint data identified with the known customer; and store thenew voiceprint data for the customer in the database to increase theamount of stored voiceprint data for the customer.
 7. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the processing system is further operable toautomatically retrieve stored information corresponding to the knowncustomer in response to identifying the customer.
 8. The system of claim1, wherein the point of sale is remote from the database and is selectedfrom the group consisting of: a telephone point of sale; and a personalcomputer point of sale.
 9. The system of claim 1, wherein: the databasecontains a stored second identifier for the known customer; and theprocessing system is further operable to receive a second identifierfrom the customer in response to identifying the customer and to comparethe second identifier received from the customer with the stored secondidentifier for the known customer to verify the identification of thecustomer.
 10. The system of claim 9, wherein the second identifierreceived from the customer comprises a personal identification number.11. The system of claim 9, wherein the second identifier received fromthe customer comprises a password.
 12. The system of claim 9, whereinthe second identifier received from the customer is spoken.
 13. Thesystem of claim 9, wherein the second identifier received from thecustomer comprises a telephone number.
 14. A system for identifying acustomer at points of sale to authorize point of sale transactions,comprising: a database containing stored voiceprint data identified witha plurality of known customers and identifiers for the plurality ofknown customers; a first input device operable to receive a first newvoice sample from a customer at a first point of sale, the first newlyreceived voice sample comprising one or more words each having ameaning, the first newly received voice sample having at least one firstcharacteristic that is independent of the meaning of the words in thefirst newly received voice sample; a first processing system coupled tothe database and to the first input device, the first processing systemoperable to: compare, according to at least the first characteristic,newly generated voiceprint data for the customer, reflective of thefirst newly received voice sample from the customer, with at least someof the stored voiceprint data identified with the plurality of knowncustomers to identify the customer as a particular one of the pluralityof known customers, where identifying comprises determining an identityof the customer; access the identifier for the known customer reflectingthe determined identity of the customer; provide the identifier for theknown customer reflecting the determined identity of the customer to anagent at the first point of sale to authorize a first point of saletransaction; associate the identifier for the known customer reflectingthe determined identity of the customer with the newly generatedvoiceprint data for the customer in response to identifying thecustomer; and store the newly generated voiceprint data for the customerin the database to increase the amount of stored voiceprint data for thecustomer that is available for subsequently identifying the customer toauthorize subsequent point of sale transactions; a second input deviceoperable to receive a second new voice sample from the customer at asecond point of sale, the second newly received voice sample comprisingone or more words each having a meaning, the second newly received voicesample having at least one second characteristic that is independent ofthe meaning of the words in the second newly received voice sample; anda second processing system coupled to the database and to the secondinput device, the second processing system operable to compare,according to at least the second characteristic, newly generatedvoiceprint data reflective of the second newly received voice samplewith at least some of the stored voiceprint data identified with theplurality of known customers, including the newly generated voiceprintdata stored in response to identifying the customer at the first pointof sale, to identify the customer as the particular one of the pluralityof known customers, where identifying comprises again determining theidentity of the customer, the second processing system further operableto access the identifier for the known customer reflecting the againdetermined identity of the customer and to provide the identifier forthe known customer reflecting the again determined identity of thecustomer to an agent at the second point of sale to authorize a secondpoint of sale transaction.
 15. The system of claim 14, wherein the firstcustomer and the second customer are the same customer.
 16. The systemof claim 14, wherein the first point of sale and the second point ofsale are within the same establishment.
 17. A method for identifying acustomer at a point of sale to authorize a point of sale transaction,comprising: storing voiceprint data identified with a known customer andan identifier for the known customer; receiving a new voice sample froma customer at the point of sale, the newly received voice samplecomprising one or more words each having a meaning, the newly receivedvoice sample having at least one characteristic that is independent ofthe meaning of the words in the newly received voice sample; comparing,according to at least the characteristic, newly generated voiceprintdata for the customer, reflective of the newly received voice samplefrom the customer, with at least some of the stored voiceprint dataidentified with the known customer; identifying the customer accordingto the comparison, where identifying comprises determining an identityof the customer; accessing the identifier for the known customerreflecting the determined identity of the customer; providing theidentifier for the known customer reflecting the determined identity ofthe customer to an agent at the point of sale to authorize the point ofsale transaction; associating the identifier for the known customerreflecting the determined identity of the customer with the newlygenerated voiceprint data for the customer in response to identifyingthe customer; and storing the newly generated voiceprint data for thecustomer in the database to increase the amount of stored voiceprintdata for the customer that is available for subsequently identifying thecustomer to authorize subsequent point of sale transactions.
 18. Themethod of claim 17, wherein the stored voiceprint data is contained in adatabase containing stored voiceprint data identified with a pluralityof known customers.
 19. The method of claim 17, further comprisingretrieving the stored voiceprint data from a database that is at alocation other than the point of sale.
 20. The method of claim 17,wherein comparing occurs at the point of sale.
 21. The method of claim17, further comprising registering the identity of the customer.
 22. Themethod of claim 21, further comprising: associating the identity of thecustomer with the new voiceprint data for the customer in response toidentifying the customer, this identification being based on thecomparison, according to at least the characteristic, of the newvoiceprint data reflective of the voice sample for the customer withstored voiceprint data identified with the known customer; and storingthe new voiceprint data for the customer in a database to increase theamount of stored voiceprint data for the customer.
 23. The method ofclaim 17, further comprising associating the voiceprint data forcustomer with stored information corresponding to the known customer.24. The method of claim 17, further comprising automatically retrievinginformation corresponding to the known customer in response toidentifying the customer.
 25. The method of claim 17, wherein the pointof sale is remote from the database and is selected from the groupconsisting of: a telephone point of sale; and a personal computer pointof sale.
 26. The method of claim 17, further comprising: receiving asecond identifier from the customer at the point of sale in response toidentifying the customer; and comparing the second identifier receivedfrom the customer with a stored second identifier for the known customerto verify the identification of the customer.
 27. The method of claim26, wherein the second identifier received from the customer comprises apersonal identification number.
 28. The method of claim 26, wherein thesecond identifier received from the customer comprises a password. 29.The method of claim 26, wherein the second identifier received from thecustomer is spoken.
 30. The method of claim 26, wherein the secondidentifier received from the customer comprises a telephone number.